December 19th, 2019 by Chris Chapman

There are dozens of supposed solutions for de-icing your car out there. The problem with these things is that they’re a bit like old wives’ tales and a lot of them aren’t actually true! Many of them won’t work but are basically harmless. On the other hand, there are several techniques out there which claim to be time-saving life hacks but which can actually be quite damaging for your car! If you’re a new driver getting lots of advice on how to de-ice your car, you’ll definitely want to keep reading!

Hot or Boiling Water

One of the oldest tricks in the book is to boil your kettle and tip the hot water onto your windscreen. However, just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s right! When you pour hot water onto a frozen windscreen, the glass goes from very cold to very hot almost instantly. When glass heats up, it expands, which isn’t an issue if it happens gradually; if it happens too quickly, though, the glass can crack.  Even if it doesn’t crack right away, your windscreen will be seriously weakened for a little while so it can get chipped as you drive away. This trick will definitely melt the ice really quickly, but the risk of a broken windscreen simply isn’t worth it.

Use a Credit Card or a CD

If you’re thinking of using your old CDs or a credit card to save buying a proper ice scraper, don’t! Ice scrapers are specially designed for use on car windows and are often treated or shaped to prevent scratches. Using a credit card or a CD isn’t particularly effective – you’re more likely to snap your bank card than you are to clear away any ice – and can scratch your windscreen.

Warm Up Your Engine

If you don’t want to bother de-icing your car yourself, it’s tempting to switch the engine on and leave your blowers on for a few minutes while you run inside where it’s warm. Some people even recommend that you do this as they say it gives your car engine time to warm up. However, there are several reasons why you shouldn’t do this! The first is that modern car engines don’t really need to warm up, and idling too much on a cold day can actually damage them. The idea that an engine needs to warm up comes from the days when they were fitted with carburettors, which did need a few minutes to warm up. Carburettors were phased out in the 80s and were replaced by fuel injectors, which can be damaged if they’re left to idle too much.

Perhaps the more important reason for this is that it puts your car at risk of being stolen. You might not think it’ll matter if you only leave your car alone for a minute or two, but if the keys are in the ignition and the engine is running, it only takes a few seconds for a thief to drive away. Play it safe and de-ice your car before you get inside. Once you’re in, you can turn your heating up high and use a demister pad or a microfibre cloth to clear the inside of your windscreen. Yes, you might be cold for a couple of minutes, but that’s better than having your car stolen!

Use Your Wipers

Always make sure your windscreen and wiper blades are properly defrosted before you use your wipers. If they’re frozen solid, they might be stuck to your windscreen. It might be tempting to try and brute force your wipers free by turning them onto the fastest setting, but all this will do is potentially burn out the wiper motor. You can avoid this problem by taking care to de-ice your wiper blades as well as your windscreen. Always check them by lifting them up before you set off!

Use Salt Water

Salt is all over the roads through winter, so it must do a good job of de-icing your car, right? Well, that’s true, but that doesn’t mean salt is good for your car! Salt causes salt corrosion, which can eat away at the protective coating on your paintwork and even the sensitive parts underneath the car. You’ll have to deal with this as a result of the salt on the roads in winter anyway, so there’s no sense adding to it by tipping salty water all over your car!

The Best Way to De-Ice Your Car

Use a can of de-icer and, if it’s really bad, a proper ice scraper. Don’t try and take shortcuts using supposed “life hacks” – they’re more trouble than they’re worth! Just make sure you get up a bit earlier and wrap up a bit warmer when you go out to de-ice your car.